About Her
by Eileen Galvin
Summary: The story of Alexia through the eyes of Albert Wesker. It's fairly short, but I think it turned out nicely. R&R and I'll be your slave.


Okay, I know I haven't been working on my other Wesker/Alexia fic ... I just haven't been feeling inspired enough to toy with something longterm. I don't want to screw up a chapter and have the whole story be ruined because of it. However, I did think of this short little story to hold you back in the meantime. It's told through Wesker's POV. I hope you enjoy!  
  
No one told me about her ... And the way she lied. Well, no one told me about her ... How many people cried.  
  
But it's too late to say you're sorry ... How would I know? Why should I care? Please don't bother trying to find her ... She's not there!  
  
--- "About Her"; Malcolm McLaren  
  
Fifteen years ... it's hard to believe it's been that long.  
  
I still remember that place so vividly. I still remember her. That's not surprising, however. I doubt any person could ever forget Alexia Ashford.  
  
When I first knew her, she was ten. I was a researcher for Umbrella's Antarctic base then, and like most, Birkin and myself were shocked that someone so young could be put at the head of such prestigious research facility. But, when we found out her last name ... we weren't surprised.  
  
She was an Ashford. Meaning, she was the relative of one of the founding fathers of Umbrella, Inc. We thought at first she would be just a puppet on strings for her father to control. It didn't take us long to realize it was quite the reverse.  
  
I had never seen anything quite like it. The Ashford family jet touched down upon the snow-dusted landing strip; many of us researchers had gathered to watch our new boss make her grand entrance. We stood bundled in our regulation Umbrella coats, though we still shivered. I could hear people around us whispering excitedly ... but William and I didn't even exchange so much as a glance.  
  
Then, the door to the plane was pushed open, it folding down into a small staircase. The three figures appeared in the doorway almost immediately. As they stepped into the light, all eyes went to the little girl wrapped tightly in her full-length mink coat. She was obviously young, but her hair had been pulled up in an attempt to look older. There were also traces of make up, if I'm not mistaken. She looked like a miniature Grace Kelly. It took every fiber of my being to suppress a laugh.  
  
This was our new brave leader? A little girl playing dress up?  
  
What a fool I was to underestimate her. I should have guessed it then by the mannerisms of her brother and father. They followed her with their heads bowed submissively. They had realized long ago that she was their superior. They had accepted it. William, however, would not.  
  
Within a week, she had surpassed all of the research he had done over the last few years. Not only that, but in one more week she surpassed it.  
  
What he happened next could best be described as a complete mental breakdown. He simply couldn't believe that a child could out-perform him in what he loved. He became obsessed with besting Alexia. I had to drag him out of the lab. His self-confidence was stolen, stolen by her.  
  
I should have been angry, I suppose. Don't get me wrong, Birkin was the best friend I ever had ... it's just that I knew how intelligent he was. I had worked with him on many projects ... and for someone to not only match him, but out-do him was a feat. I felt my fondness for the little blonde girl growing.  
  
I know what you're thinking now, but I assure you, it wasn't like that. Not at that age, anyway. I can't deny that when I saw her on Rockfort, I felt that pang of attraction to her newly adult figure ... but back then, it was so much different.  
  
I began to watch her carefully ... and something seemed to strike me as odd. She never smiled. Not even a curl of her lips at some great success, or a laugh at a joke her brother might whisper to her. I never saw her play, either. There was a carousel on the premises ... but I only saw her weird sibling on it.  
  
I began to realize that Alexia was like the dragonflies she fed to her ants. She had been dewinged by her father when this adult position had been forced upon her. She had been fed to the science community as some wonder child ... though in that first year, I felt she wanted nothing more to be a child.  
  
As the months went by, she seemed to take more of an interest in her own world. I began to notice a shift in her priorities. Where before her life had revolved around pleasing Umbrella and those who expected so much of her ... Alexia began to seek true power of her own. The product of this, of course, would be the T-Veronica virus ... but I wouldn't know about that until fifteen years after she put herself in cryogenic sleep.  
  
Around this time, workers began to disappear. They just dropped off the face of the Earth mysteriously. This wasn't unusual in a company like Umbrella, but if the HQ had sent operatives to retrieve these men, we would have heard them arrive at some point ... especially with the number of people who disappeared.  
  
Even I was puzzled. Rumors swirled around that it was Alexia, and I started to believe them. Deep within those angelic eyes laid the mind of a homicidal maniac.  
  
My suspicions wouldn't be confirmed until years later, however. After three years at the Antarctic base, Alexander Ashford, Alexia's father, was reportedly killed in a lab mishap. Shortly after that, Alexia met a similar fate ... or so we were told.  
  
As soon as Birkin heard of this, he slowly began to become the man I once knew. His confidence was once more within his grip, and he seemed more clearheaded. More ... productive. I was happy for him, and more importantly, happy for myself. With William back at one hundred percent, it meant we could continue with our research.  
  
Still, something lingered in the back of my mind. They had said Alexia died in a lab accident ... but where was the body? And most important, how was it possible that this young genius, who had spent all of her life working in laboratories, could have made a mistake that would be fatal? Some blamed it on sorrow over her father obscuring her judgment, but I never believed it. She was never close with her father. Anyone could have seen that. She almost seemed to silently blame him for something.  
  
Now here I am fifteen years later. I can feel the burning on my face, as well as on my arm. Battle scars from what I had just encountered. It's gone now ... the Base. I just saw it erupt. I felt the whole sub shake with the impact. She's gone as well. Alexia never died. She had simply been sleeping for all these years, sleeping so that her T-Veronica virus could pump through her veins.  
  
I came face-to-face with her just as she mutated. She was gorgeous. An absolute beauty, though I had always guessed she would turn out that way. However, what was truly alluring to me was the power she wielded. She was even able to force me into a retreat.  
  
When I saw her next time ... it was just as Chris Redfield murdered her. I'll never forget the sounds that came from her as her body erupted in a splash of blood and gore ... and the look of satisfaction on his face.  
  
She deserved better than that.  
  
In my profession, you're supposed to be completely immune to emotions. Normally that's my best trait ... but I can't stop thinking about what happened to her. What would she have done if she had lived? What if she had just surrendered and returned to the HCF HQ with me? I can honestly say I wish she were sitting here at my side. She had so much to teach the world ... so much power to gain ... to many people to kill.  
  
It was all ended too soon.  
  
I'll never forget Alexia Ashford, the Queen Ant.  
  
[ THE END! Now ... Review. I'll love you forever. Promise! nn; ] 


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